FAQs

Getting Started

Q:

What is the first step I need to take to host my website with your company?

A:

The first step you need to take is to choose a domain name. Once you have
obtained a domain name you must verify the features that your website will require listed in our packages page. When you have chosen
the plan you need then simply fill out the online order form. Please note that the order form is Secure, thus , you do not have to
worry about your personal credit card info being displayed on the Internet.

Q:

How long does it take to setup an account?

A:

Accounts are setup within 60 minutes. At times, depending on the state of our network, it may take just a few minutes to
have your account activated.

Q:

How do I transfer my domain name?

A:

It is extremely simple to have your domain name point to our servers. You should change DNS setting of your domain. DNS
information is provided with a hosting welcome letter.

Q:

How do I get my files transferred to your server?

A:

All you have to do is download the files off your current host and upload them to our servers via any ftp
client ( cuteftp or wsftp ) or publisher.

Q:

May I have some examples of some sites hosted by you?

A:

Hosting System makes a sample client page and service review page available to the public on it's website. This page has examples
of virtual hosting, dedicated server, co-location, and reseller clients available.

Q:

What Are Your Technical Support Hours?

A:

Our technical support is available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week via E-mail, Livechat and Toll-Free Phone Support.

Hosting System Corporation charges a one time setup fee depending on the size and type of webhosting package ordered. The full rate
charts for available hosting packages are shown on the Web Hosting pages.

Q:

How do I set up my email?

A:

Hosting System Corporation web hosting clients can set up POP Accounts, Forwarders/Aliases, & Auto-Responders in the Web Browser Control
Panel that comes with every Hosting System Corporation web hosting package. This can be done by yourself, and without any assistance
from the Hosting System Corporation staff.

Q:

How do I upload my files?

A:

All Hosting System Corporation web hosting packages allow the usage of FTP, Telnet, SSH, File Manager, MS FrontPage™, and other web
development publishing programs, to upload files to your website.

Q:

Is there a trial period or money-back guarantee?

A:

Hosting System Corporation offers a full 30 day money back guarantee. No questions asked. If you are not happy for any reason, cancel
your Hosting System Corporation service within 30 days of signup and your full setup fee and monthly costs will be refunded. The only
exception to a refund, is if you violate Hosting System Corporation Terms of Service(TOS). Violations of the TOS usually are due to
spamming, hacking, and illegal content. Your account can be cancelled ONLY by submitting secure service cancellation from. Other
methods of cancellation are not valid.

Q:

How fast are websites set up?

A:

Hosting System Corporation strives for a setup time of no more than 60 minutes per order. If an order is placed during normal business
day hours, orders may be processed in only a few minutes.

Q:

Does my website get a control panel?

A:

Yes. Every Hosting System Corporation web hosting package comes with a web browser based control panel. The control panel includes
many features including; email configurations, chat rooms, mailing lists, pre-installed cgi scripts, databases, chat rooms, and
much, much, more... The Windows NT™ account control panels run on a Red Hat™ Linux backend, and feature email based
features only. A demo of the control panel can be found here (user:demo/password:demo).

Q:

How am I billed?

A:

Hosting System Corporation invoices you via email. You can request a monthly statement via email as well, at any time. Hard copy
invoices can be mailed for those resellers that request such. You will receive an invoice for each service/account order every
month on the same day the service was ordered (if it is a monthly sevice). Special arrangements can be made for custom billing
requirements. Hosting System Corporation accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Bank Wire Transfers, Western Union,
Company Checks, Personal Checks, Money Orders, and PayPal (paypal@Hosting System.com). You can opt to not have your credit card
charged every month, until you specifically submit a payment form each month.

Q:

How much assistance do you provide for my website?

A:

Hosting System Corporation will assist you with all support for services provided directly thru Hosting System Corporation. Hosting System
Corporation will help you with basic settings for your email software and ftp client, as well as assist you with using the web
browser control panel. Hosting System Corporation is not responsible for teaching you how to use another company's products. Example:
Hosting System Corporation will assist you with the settings for using MS Frontpage™, but we will not teach you how to actually use
the product itself. You need to contact the software maker in such a situation, who provides tech support for how to use their
product. Hosting System Corporation cannot even attempt to support all the thousands of software products on the market. Hosting System
Corporation will attempt to provide some tech support for the most popular programs our clients use. Hosting System Corporation is
not responsible for assisting with your own programs and cgi scripts. If you choose to install your own programs and cgi scripts
on your site, you are responsible fully for installing them. Hosting System Corporation will provide support for any program or cgi
script that we provide pre-installed with your web hosting package. Hosting System Corporation is not responsible for designing, nor
developing, your website, including HTML and/or images. Hosting System Corporation will attempt to give a quick look at your
design/development problem, and offer a suggestion if it is a small issue. Anything complicated relating to design/development
is not the responsibility of Hosting System Corporation.

Q:

What if the hardware fails?

A:

Hosting System Corporation stocks replacement parts for all servers. Hosting System Corporation is always building new servers for our
shared hosting clients, as well as our dedicated server clients, so a full inventory of parts is maintained. Hardware failures are
uncommon, but they do happen, and are a part of the hosting business. Hosting System Corporation repairs all failed hardware promptly,
to minimize any downtime caused by such.

Q:

Are there any hidden costs?

A:

No. All costs are stated plainly on our website. We do not hide fees in fineprint, or in our terms of service pages. The only costs
that are commonly found to occur beyond your expected flat monthly rates per service, are those due to increased disk space or
bandwidth usage. Pricing for such is plainly stated on our website. Hosting System Corporation very often will allow you to upgrade
your packages to the next size up, should you see an increase in disk space levels or bandwidth usage for the current month, and
not want to pay for such additional usage. Disk space usage and availablility, as well as estimated bandwidth usage, is available
to you in the majority of the control panel versions included with the hosting packages.

Q:

What is Cpanel™? Do you have a Demo?

A:

CPanel™ is the brand name of the web browser control panel software that Hosting System Corporation utilizes on its web hosting
packages. A demo of the control panel can be found here (user:demo/password:demo).

Hosting System makes a sample client page available to the public on it's website. This page has examples of virtual hosting,
dedicated server, co-location, and reseller clients available.

Q:

Does my website have their own IP number or is it shared?

A:

This depends on the type of hosting packages you order. Traditionally all Hosting System Corporation hosting packages come with a
dedicated IP address. Hosting System Corporation dedicated servers have the ability to utilize IP based, or
IPless, virtual hosting configurations.

Q:

What type of support do you offer? Average Response Time?

A:

Hosting System Corporation offers support to our clients 24/7/365 via web based ticket system, email, IC. A pager number is also
available for dedicated server clientele. We strive for response times of no more than a few hours. Response times of just a few
minutes are quite common during normal business hours. Hosting System Corporation has recently implemented a web based support ticket
system, which integrates all incoming support email into it. The ticket system tracks support inquires by "time waiting" for
reponse from the support dept. The Hosting System Corporation administration carefully monitors that the Hosting System Corporation support
staff maintains a fast response time, with courteous and helpful service.

Q:

What are the hardware specs of the servers?

A:

Every server at Hosting System Corporation has different specifications. Whenever a server reaches what we feel to be the limit,
another server is built. Hosting System Corporation is constantly upgrading the server hardware on our network. If more drive
space, memory, or faster processors are needed, they are added in at that time. The average shared server is a QUAD XEON processor
system, with 4048MB RAM, and RAID hard drive(s). All Hosting System Corporation servers run spare hard drives for backup requirements.

The company has been in business since September 19, 1998. September 15th 2001, the company was incorporated in the State of
Illinois, USA. Hosting System Corporation entered the web hosting industry in September 2001.

Q:

Do you support International domain names and clients?

A:

Hosting System Corporation can host all international domains on its servers. Hosting System Corporation can accept foreign clientele,
just please be advised that all correspondance must be conducted in English. The client is responsible for handling the registration
process of foreign domain name(s). This must be pointed to nameservers on the Hosting System Corporation network as assigned, or you
can use other nameservers and route the domain name to the IP address you are assigned. Hosting System Corporation cannot handle the
foreign domain registration process for you, due to the fact that we do not speak all of the potential foreign languages that may be
involved. Hosting System Corporation will assist you however, with any technical information need to accomplish this.

Q:

How do I transfer my domain name?

A:

Hosting System Corporation will attempt to file the necessary electronic forms for your domain name transfer with InterNIC. If
Hosting System Corporation is unable to file such with your specific domain name registrar, Hosting System Corporation will send you
instructions on how to do such yourself, including all necessary technical details. Clients may opt to not have Hosting System Corporation
handle the domain name transfer, or to delay doing such, as an option on the web hosting order form required for signup.

Q:

What if my site breaks your "acceptable usage policy" rules?

A:

Users' sites may be suspended for violations of policy, or if extreme, or second time offenders, sites may be cancelled. Each occurance
is dealt with on a case by case basis, and we try to work things out with every client. Notifications will be sent, if Hosting System
Corporation takes any action on your account.

Q:

What if I want to upgrade my website?

A:

You may upgrade or downgrade your Hosting System Corporation web hosting package at any time. You will be required to pay the difference
in the setup fee for your current plan, and the plan you are upgrading to, should you decide to choose a larger plan. You will then pay
the new monthly fee for the new account package that you select. Transfers between operating systems (ie..Linux to Windows NT™)
will require a setup fee to be paid.

Q:

How is my website monitored?

A:

Hosting System Corporation maintains internal and external monitoring systems for every server in the Hosting System Corporation Data Center.
The servers are checked every 5 minutes via network monitoring software. Hosting System Corporation monitors uptime as well as individual
features and services running on each server. Hosting System Corporation staff is notified via alarms, email, screen popups, and paging,
if a problem occurs.

Q:

What is the uptime?

A:

Hosting System Corporation strives to maintain a 99.5% network and server uptime service level. This uptime percentage is a monthly figure,
and does not include any scheduled hardware/software upgrades, nor "Acts of God". Our definition of "Act of God" includes; fire, flood,
tornado, earthquake, telco fiber issues (ie...Verizon™ cutting a fiber line somewhere), backbone peering point
issues (ie...UUnet™ having a router go down in Virginia that wipes out internet service for the entire East Coast), hard
drive failure (faulty hardware is rare, but cannot be predicted nor avoided), as well as network floods, hacks, and attacks. If
Hosting System Corporation fails to meet it's 99.5% uptime guarantee, and it is not due to one of the above reasons, partial downtime
credits will be made available to each client, upon request, on a case by case basis. Hosting System Corporation does not credit a full
month's service if we only have 99.4% uptime. This would not be financially healthy for Hosting System Corporation, and in turn would
only negatively affect the service level Hosting System Corporation provides to you. "Partial refunds for partial downtime" is our
standard policy.

Hosting System, Inc is Chicago's premier hosting provider, providing reliable, scalable solutions for customers of all sizes and services.
Located in the carrier-neutral Equinix Chicago Data Center, Hosting System, Inc has access to all the
major carriers in Chicago without the need for local loop circuits. Fore more information check this page.

Q:

Do you have battery backups and generators?

A:

Our Network Operations Center is backed up and protected by UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) systems. In a very rare case
of utility outages, our auto-start generators start automatically, taking over for the UPS system and supplying all necessary
power for our Network Operations Center. APC™, Tripp-Lite™, & Liebert™ UPS Systems provide the power backups, along with
Kohler™ generator systems.

Q:

What kind of security does the Hosting System Corporation Data Center have?

A:

The Hosting System Corporation Data Center in Chicago, IL USA is a high security facility. Double metal security doors, with interior
gating, protect the main entrance to the facility. The windows-less facility has advanced security, fire, temperature, and flood
alarms, directly piped into the Security Monitoring Company via phone, cellular, and internet connections. A 16-camera digital video
system monitors the interior and exterior of the Data Center. This video system is monitored internally at the facility and externally
from the Hosting System Corporation Sales/Support office. The video data is recorded live both on and off site, and stored for several
months ahead. Visitors cannot gain access into the faclity without employee escort. The physical servers and equipment area is secured
from the visitor's area by huge metal doors, as well as metal sheeting and bulletproof glass walls. Armed guards are planned for the
future, but not a necessity at this junction.

Q:

What about software upgrades?

A:

Hosting System Corporation handles all software upgrades/patches on the shared hosting servers. We fully follow all trends in the
industry, and monitor all support/bug announcement groups. If a new bug or security vulnerability is found, Hosting System
Corporation immediately upgrades our systems. Microsoft™ regularly release patches for the Windows™ based systems, and
Hosting System Corporation auto-updates the Linux systems every night from security patch websites. As new software is released,
including new versions of operating systems, Hosting System Corporation evaluates the new software. If the software's new version
does not have any security issues, or bug problems, the upgrade is implemented.

Q:

What if the server my website is on gets hacked or attacked?

A:

Individually hacked websites are rare. If such occurs, usually they are a target for a reason; hate sites, pirated software, etc...
Hosting System Corporation does not host such websites. If such materal is found on a Hosting System Corporation server, it is deleted
immediately and the user's account cancelled. Usually the target is the whole server itself. Hackers usually go after a server just
to say that "they did", or to use the server to bounce off of to hack something more important. Rarely are any users' files on the
server damaged, erased, or modified. For this reason, once a hacker is detected, a server can usually be cleaned up and the hacker
locked back out within a matter of hours. At that time the server is restored to full security levels, as if the hack has never
occurred. Most hackers get into a system thru valid user accounts. We recommend you use complicated passwords for your account.
Hosting System Corporation strictly reviews all orders for new clients, to make sure they are legitimate. Unfortunately, some fake orders
do get thru the system, and that is one way a hacker can gain initial access. Hosting System Corporation runs security checks on the
servers daily, so even if a hacker does get in, they are found and dealt with quickly. Most hackers are not malicious, they are just
playing or testing their abilities. If an individual attacks the whole Hosting System Corporation Data Center, measures are in place to
cut off such floods and attacks automatically at the backbone level and the router level. Hosting System Corporation also uses firewall
technology to fend off most common methods of flooding and attacks to the network.

Q:

How is extra bandwidth billed?

A:

Hosting System Corporation maintains software on every server and on the switches to monitor individual website usage and server-wide
usage. Bandwidth is billed per Gigabyte (GB) over your monthly allocation, rounded up to the nearest Gigabyte. Usually between the
3rd and 5th of the month you will receive your bandwidth overage billing, if applicable, for the preceding month's usage.

Q:

What is included in my website package?

A:

Hosting System Corporation provides full hardware, software, support, and system administration for your Hosting System Corporation
shared hosting solution. The software provided includes the operating system, ftp & email software, web server software, and
a control panel. Hosting System Corporation even includes free e-commerce shopping cart software. Everything you need to conduct
business on the Internet, or maintain a personal website, is included in your Hosting System Corporation hosting solution. Hosting System
Corporation will provide basic support on services/software that we provide you with your account. Hosting System Corporation does not
develop your website for you, nor provide tech support on how to use software products that we do not provide to your directly...even
if we do support them. We are always more than willing to help you if we can though with external issues, time permitting...

Q:

How many sites are currently running on per server?

A:

Hosting System Corporation does not have a set quantity of domains running on each machine. We find that ten domains can utilize more
resources than 200 others. Hosting System Corporation monitors each server's performance levels and attempts to maintain a low server
load average and high cpu availability. As needed, Hosting System Corporation will upgrade the hardware, to increase server performance.
Individual domains that become to much for the server to handle, and utilize too much server resources, are moved to servers set up
specifically for such resource intensive accounts.

Q:

Can I host more than one domain name per account?

A:

Hosting System Corporation charges additional fees for every EXTRA (some are included for free) domain name you point to your account.
For a domain name that is parked on top of your main domain name, the cost is a $15 one time setup fee. You may use an index.cgi script,
to redirect from that domain name to a sub-directory at no additional charge. Hosting System Corporation charges a $15 setup fee and $3/mo,
for every additional domain name parked to a sub-directory. Each additional domain name parked on top, or to a sub-directory, receives
one catch-all email POP account or forwarder for all mail to that domain name. Parked domain names do not receive a control panel of
their own. Hosting System Corporation usually recommends the very inexpensive "Small" accounts ($4.95 monthly) instead, due to the fact that
they come with their own control panel functionality or the best solution is to signup for reseller plan and setup as much standalone
domains as you need.

Q:

Why should I choose Hosting System Corporation as my webhost?

A:

Simple. Hosting System Corporation maintains one of the most feature rich hosting packages on the market, so advanced that many hosting
companies cannot compete. Hosting System Corporation was one of the first hosting companies in the industry to offer technical support via
ICQ & AOL Instant Messanger, as well as to offer high bandwidth packages (20GB+ per month) to the general public. Hosting System
Corporation offers Cpanel™ & WebHostManager™ on it's packages, the premier software in the business. Hosting System
Corporation offers a 30 day full money back guarantee for new clients that sign up...so you really cannot loose by selecting
Hosting System Corporation. Hosting System Corporation has won several awards for providing some of the most complete hosting packages
and support levels available.

Q:

How do I get started?

A:

Simple! Just fill out one form....the Secure New Account Order form! You will receive details shortly afterwards
about how to proceed with your new Hosting System Hosting System CorporationWeb Hosting Account!